Business, Real Estate and Negotiation Tips From The New Book By Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles Agent Josh Altman

Since cutting the cable cord a few years ago, we don’t keep up much with the latest TV shows. However, I remember Million Dollar Listing from before because it was quite the spectacle. Apparently, it’s still going strong with Season 11. One of its stars, Josh Altman, recently released a book, The Altman Close: Million Dollar Negotiating Tactics From America’s Top Selling Real Estate Agent.

Altman has a fascinating, Type-A background from playing college football at Syracuse to co-founding a real estate firm with his brother, Matt, that has since sold over $3 billion in real estate. Yes, that’s billion. In Altman’s terms, he’s “Hollywood” (ie: baller, big time, Master of the Universe).

Altman came in at number four this year on LA Business Journal’s top 75 LA real estate agents, with $447 million in sales volume this past year alone. The book shares Altman’s insights into what it takes to be a top real estate agent to the ultra-rich.

You don’t need to be in real estate to benefit from this book

If you can get past Altman’s frequent use of the word “baller”, there are useful lessons for business and negotiation in general, not just real estate.

Here are seven of my favorite takeaways:

1 – Drive towards the finish:

Let’s get this straight: real estate is the close. Everything I do day in and day out is pointed toward that end. If you don’t close, nothing happened. You’ve just moved a lot of paper around, made a bunch of calls and emails, wasted gas, posted online, and walked a bunch of people through a house with nothing to show for it. Sure, you may have made some leads for the future, but you never want to be the agent that didn’t close. You lose money. It sucks, plain and simple.

– Josh Altman

2 – Conduct exhaustive research:

[On auditioning for TV]  Matt and I dove into deep research, bingeing and analyzing every aspect of the show. We watched every second of the first three seasons, talking about character types and deciding how the played off each other.

– Josh Altman

3 – Control your own destiny:

I’m not looking to win the lottery. I want to out-earn it. I want to open, work and close.

– Josh Altman

4 – Invest in branding:

First impressions matter, whether you like it or not. You think that’s shallow? Fine, you won’t make money.

– Josh Altman

5 – Be observant:

I keep my head clear to observe what the client, what people, are doing and saying. Pay attention. It’s in the details. That’s where all the answers lie when you need to do your best job. How people think, how they move, it’s all huge.

– Josh Altman

6 – Invest in relationships:

During your first meeting with potential business clients, look for deeper points of connection. You’re not selling, you’re hanging out, getting to know someone, and humbly conveying your expertise….No one likes to be sold or hustled. They like being respected, understood, and worked with….Turn a customer into a friend. Friends do business with friends who know their business well.

– Josh Altman

7 – Stay calm:

Here’s a trick of the trade that sounds easier than it actually is – CHILL OUT! Once you find your flow, you’ll get it. Take baby steps and it will all line up one foot in front of the other….You need to keep your head. If not, it shows. A flustered agent creates a flustered client….Being “Hollywood” means that even when you’re sweating through your suit, sprinting to your car, you have a carefree smile, because it’s good, all good – all the time….You’re not overwhelmed even when you are.

– Josh Altman

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If you like peeking behind-the-scenes in business, this is a fun book. Altman’s tone is overly competitive – I wouldn’t have been surprised if Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas in Wall Street) was credited as a co-writer! But I didn’t mind it. Altman’s accomplishments are admirable, he sounds comfortable as he is, and he shares good advice in an engaging, accessible way.